A Severed Bond
by Blonde Panther
Summary: Post-FE8. Eirika's death leaves her husband in despair and loneliness. When Ephraim suspects military activity from Carcino, he asks his brother in law to look after his children while he leaves to investigate... with disastrous results. Rated for character death. Warning: Could do with a re-write.


**Disclaimer: **Fire Emblem and everything that comes with it belongs to Nintendo, not me.

**Characters: **Seth, Ephraim, Eirika (in a way), two really small OCs.

**Pairings: **Seth/Eirika, minor Ephraim/Tana.

**Warnings: **Character death, but no real spoilers. Well, Ephraim and friends win the war of FE8. But if you had more than half a brain you knew that :P

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><p>The sword. A name given to a wide range of weapons, from elegant rapiers to crude broadswords. Seth's was a 'regular' blade, about a hand in width and four to five hands in length. Forged from a silver alloy, it was in almost perfect state despite its age… of course, it hadn't seen much use in the past years. But Seth still regularly took the time to clean it. He couldn't say why… he just did.<p>

It had been little over five years that he had retired from the Renais army, although 'retired' made him feel so old. The reason he had stepped back, as he preferred to call it… had been his wife. She had begged him to stop fighting, to stop leaving home for months on an end to help rebuild the further outposts of their and foreign kingdoms. Cold months, that was. He had always had trouble denying her anything, and his old wound convinced him that she was right. It was that wound that had made her worry in the first place.

But she was gone now. His dear wife had died almost a year ago… he had never been told the exact circumstances, but she had ridden out with the king and something had happened during the hunt. Something that had ended her life. The red-headed knight had never been fully able to set himself over it. They had no children, and the incident had left him… alone.

With neither the army, nor his wife, nor any children, to turn to, he had taken to putting the extra time into his stallion, Bolero, and his old weapons. Forde and Kyle had checked in every so often, as had King Ephraim, but things had simply not been the same. At the very least, he bitterly thought, there was no way for him to turn into a second Carlyle now.

The king… as Seth held his blade in the sunlight shining through the window, his mind wandered to his liege. Somewhere deep down, he had always blamed King Ephraim for his wife's fate. If she had not gone out with him that day, if he had chosen somewhere else to hunt, if he had helped her during whatever happened that took her life… she would still have been here. Why had he lived? And not her?

The king had asked him to meet him at the cemetery… at her grave. He'd said it concerned some sensitive information and he wanted to keep it clandestine and between the two of them. That was why Seth brought his sword with him to the graveyard. He wore it under his cloak, so no one would see or suspect it.

He arrived before the king did, and kneeled on the cold, hard ground in front of the headstone. No matter how often he came here, he still refused to believe his wife, the woman he had loved so much, was lying under that soil, never to hold him, smile at him, or love him again. In fact, he hoped that she would suddenly stand behind him, say his name, and embrace him from behind, telling him it was all just a bad dream…

"…Seth?" He leapt up and turned around. It wasn't his wife behind him, but her twin. This was wrong… he shouldn't be here. "I'm glad you could come. How are you holding up recently?"

"I will live, my king." He forced himself to speak to King Ephraim normally. "It still weighs on me… but life must go on."

"Words well spoken." The king nodded. "Which is exactly why I asked you to come here. We're worried about something. Mercenary bands in Carcino are packing together and are starting to form an army of sorts… there's definitely someone behind them. Innes suspects one of the council members."

Seth nodded, but spoke up. "My liege… while that is worrying, what does it have to do with me? I have retired. I cannot fight." It hurt his pride to speak those words, but he knew it was true. It was winter. He couldn't fight in winter months. It was the cold of these months that crippled him through his old wound…

"Franz and Kyle can take to the front lines with Amelia, and I will lead our men should it come down to that. We will miss your strength, but we should be able to manage." Ephraim had turned around and rested his hand on the headstone.

So wrong… if Eirika was dead, Ephraim shouldn't be standing there…

"But that immediately poses a problem." The king did not notice the ex-knight's aggravation and continued. "Tana is already gone… and I can't very well take my children to war with me. But I don't want to leave them in the hands of a complete stranger, either." His children. That was true. While Eirika had never been blessed with children in the years of marriage she and Seth had had, Ephraim and Tana had been gifted with two sons. It was unfair. Ephraim had gotten away with all the blessings and Eirika, none.

"Seth… that's where you come in. I can't leave Damien and Matthew with just about anyone…" Ephraim turned to face him. "But you are their uncle. If I cannot ask you, Seth, then who could I ask?" He smiled. "So… would you be so kind to care for my sons while I am out to investigate this?"

Seth hesitated. The two princes… the children he envied Ephraim for more than anything. He would care for them while their father was on the fray… but there was still the issue that Ephraim shouldn't be able to GO to the fray at all… "I will, my lord. I cannot say how honored I am that you would entrust me with them."

"I know they'll be fine in your care, Seth." Ephraim was still smiling, looking back at the headstone. "Thank you. I wouldn't know what to do if you had refused." When Ephraim kneeled, much like Seth had done earlier, the retired knight reached for the sword he was carrying. Eirika's words still rang in his ears.

'We're twins, remember? Ephraim and I share a bond closer than that of normal siblings. I'd almost say that if one of us dies, the other can't live any longer! But that's just silly…'

Yet Eirika was gone. And a year later, Ephraim was still breathing, alive, and feeling strong enough to head into war. It was wrong. It was unnatural. Eirika was dead, and Ephraim had to join her. "You have been kind of distant lately, though," the king remarked without looking up, his voice blotting out the sound of Seth's sword slowly being drawn from its sheath, "Are you sure you're quite okay? You never did get any help processing Eirika's death…"

"…I am sorry, my liege." Seth raised his sword.

Immediately, as if he had a sixth sense telling him what was coming, Ephraim leapt up and started turning. "What are you-" he interrupted himself with a scream, a death cry, when his retainer's sword connected with his skin and tore through it. The sword was old, but he had kept it in fine shape. The unarmed, unarmored king stood no chance against the man who brought his weapon down on him with enough strength to break his ribs.

But even when the king hit the ground, bleeding from the gash made by the sword, he still drew breath. "You… Seth… of all people…" it wouldn't take very long for him to bleed out, though. Seth had made sure to leave a large wound he couldn't cover with his hand, no matter how he tried. "Why?"

Seth sheathed his weapon and covered the sheath again. "Eirika… she must be lonely. Without her brother… you wouldn't right it, so I had to…" Ephraim's eyes suddenly glowed with something resembling realization and rage, and he tried to get up. Seth kicked him back down. "Don't bother. Don't resist, and it will be over soon."

"You're mad…" Ephraim managed, trying to get up again. "I should have known… reclusive, silent, distant… Of course you'd lost your mind…" Seth had raised his leg, but the pain already forced the king back to the ground. He raised his head, though, and stretched out his arm as if to try and grab Seth. "Don't you… get anywhere near… my sons…"

Seth looked on as the king breathed his last, cursing the redhead with both rage and pity in his eyes. Mere seconds after Ephraim closed his eyes, though, Seth recoiled as if he had been hit by someone. The shock of seeing his liege like that and realizing he was dead was too much for him. And Eirika… Eirika would never forgive him had she known. The only person she had loved more than him was her brother! She'd be disgusted to know that he had killed him…

…he had to get away from it. From Eirika's grave. From Ephraim's corpse. Before people came looking for the king and found him at the crime scene. Seth turned around and headed for the castle. He had to do something, and fast… yes… he could pin it on the spies Carcino had in Renais… if there weren't any, the people would be searching for ages… By the time they realized there wasn't anyone, he would long be gone… and if there were spies, he had his scapegoat… his sword was with him, they couldn't use that against him… yes… it was perfect.

"G-general Seth?" Entering the castle halls, he sped up and shouted at the first guards he encountered.

"The king has been assassinated!" he shouted, "There's a spy or a traitor in the castle! Find him and have him tried! Prepare Bolero for me!" The guards were too shocked to remember Seth was no longer in a position to give them orders, and within minutes the castle was in an uproar. Exactly as Seth had hoped. Now he just had to…

He found the two princes in the playroom Ephraim and Eirika had occupied before them. The youngest… Damien, he remembered, had to be about four years old, Matthew six. The latter recognized his uncle immediately, much to Seth's relief. It would make gaining the trust of the two children a lot easier. "Damien, Matthew." The two immediately dropped their game and looked at him. His voice alone had been enough to inform them the situation was grave.

"We have to go. Your father asked me to look after you while he tries to find out who is betraying Renais from the inside out."

"Are we in danger?" Matthew asked, grabbing Seth's hand with both his own.

Seth shut his eyes, pained by the question, and waited a few seconds before re-opening them and answering. "No. You won't be in any danger as long as you stay close to me and do as I say."

"Okay…"

Seth wasted no time picking up Damien and grabbing Matthew's hand, leading both princes out of the castle. Fortunately, they were both well-behaved boys and didn't protest to the suddenness of the escape. As he had ordered of the confused guards, Bolero was waiting for him outside, completely prepared for travel. The good souls had even tied a lance to his saddle, forgetting Seth no longer fought in the fray. With his silver sword and a silver lance, he knew he should be able to protect his nephews.

He first put the two princes on the stallion's back, and then got on, himself, taking the lance to hand. "I need the two of you to hold on tight. I know a safe place." With that, he spurred Bolero forwards and the horse galloped off.

The truth was, he didn't know a safe place off the top of his head. But he did know he had to get the princes out of the castle. As long as they thought Ephraim was alive, they'd be fine… and he didn't want to confront them with their father's dead body, as it would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Ephraim had entrusted his sons to him.

And he would see to it that the two princes of Renais would never face the trials their father and aunt had. He didn't know how yet… but he would. Eirika would forgive him… no matter how long it took…

Until then… the sword that had taken their father's life would protect his sons.

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><p><em><strong>Author's notes: <strong>__I suppose my buddy Andy gets at least half of the credit for this one. He was saying how Orson was what Seth would turn into if Eirika died, and after a bit of collaborating, I ended up with this idea. Poor Seth, this warrants an AU label because I don't want this to happen to him. I suppose it just goes to show that not even the Silver Knight is immune to lovesickness-induced insanity._


End file.
